The Whig Party

For a more complete history of the Whig Party, visit www.modernwhig.org.


The name “Whig” was first derived in Scotland in the 1600s. It was initially used to refer to the Scottish who fought against the British crown in a raid called the Whiggamore Raid during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639-1651).

The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts that took place in Scotland, Ireland, and England between 1639 and 1651 at a time when these countries had come under the Personal Rule of the same monarch. The wars were the outcome of tensions that existed between the king and his subjects over religious and civil issues. Whigs were a group of people from western Scotland who opposed King Charles I of England in 1648.

In the 1700s, another political reform movement began in Great Britain. Calling for republicanism, equal rights, economic freedom and freedom of the press, the supporters of these beliefs became known as the Radical Whigs. Some of these Radical Whigs included famous men like John Locke, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and David Hume.

When the American Revolution started, the word Whig was first used to refer to an American Patriot that supported the war with England. At that time there was no formal Whig party in the United States, but some of these Patriot Whigs included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere, Nathanael Greene, Nathan Hale, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.

In the early 1830s, the term Whig was revived by political opponents of the Democratic President Andrew Jackson. Many of these opponents were against Jackson’s policies, which sought to grow executive powers and administer the ‘spoils system' by which government officials were appointed solely on their loyalty to the party instead of their qualifications or merit. The name Whig was used as a Party name to echo the American Whigs of 1766, who fought for independence.

As a result, opposition to Jackson’s policies helped create the first fully organized party system, which consisted of Jackson’s loyalists, the Democrats, and his adversaries, the Whigs.

The Whig Party at the time practiced compromise as a political philosophy. Many of their members came across the political spectrum. Lead by Henry Clay, the party brought modernization and deepened the socio-economic system (such as banks, factories, and railroads) in America. The Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the executive branch and favored a program of modernization and economic protectionism.

Whigs promoted internal improvements, such as roads, canals, railroads, deepening of rivers, financial institutions, public schools, private colleges, charities, cultural institutions and anything else that would help America be internally strong.

The idea behind the Whig's mercantilist economic plan was to allow the nation to develop and flourish by providing a defense against the dumping of cheap goods by foreign suppliers. This plan consisted of three mutually reinforcing parts and they are as follows:

• A high tariff to protect and promote the American industry
  
• A national bank to encourage commerce and a national currency
  
• Federal subsidies for roads, canals, and other internal improvements to develop and connect the nation.

In the years leading to the Civil War, the issues of state rights and the role slavery would play in the Western territories destroyed the Whig Party, as it had begun to unravel the United States. Unlike the Democratic Party, which had heavy membership in the South, the Whig Party’s attempt to appeal to as many people as possible without maintaining a cohesive stance on major issues, in particular the role of slavery in new territories, eventually led to its demise, with Northern Whigs joining the newly formed Republican Party and Southern Whigs joining the Democrats.

Whig Presidents:

• William Henry Harrison 1841-1845, 9th President
  
• John Tyler 1845-1849, 10th President
  
• Zachery Taylor 1849-1850, 12th President
  
• Millard Fillmore 1850-1853, 13th President

Whigs Return

As noted at www.modernwhig.org, the Modern Whig Party was organized as a national party in late 2007 as a successor to the historical Whig Party. Among its founding members were military veterans who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of these veterans became dissatisfied with the deep ideological divide between the Republican and Democratic parties.

Modern Whigs represent the moderate voters from all walks of life who cherry-pick between traditional Republican or Democratic ideals in what has been called the Modern Whig Philosophy. This Washington DC-based national movement values common sense, rational solutions ahead of ideology and partisan bickering. This includes general principles of fiscal responsibility, strong national defense and educational/scientific advancement.

Less than a year into its creation, the Modern Whig Party attracted more than 25,000 members nationally.